DITISIOX OF HORTICULTUIiE 655 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



accompanied by purity of air, for in a iiot, moist or close atmosphere, tomatoes prove a 

 failure. They desire warm, dry, bracing air, and, during the dark days of early 

 winter and late fall, tlie question of proper ventilation is., all important. Especially 

 after the plants are in blossom is it necessary to have the air dry, otherwise pollination 

 is a difficult task. To aid the setting of fruit as much as possible, hand pollination in 

 some form should be resorted to. For this purpose a small downy feather or rabbit's 

 tail, tied to the end of a light stick, is used. By simply touching each open flower with 

 this apparatus much pollen is released and applied to the pistil. During the early 

 winter or late autumn it is exceedingly, difficult to get a good set of fruit without the 

 adoption of hand pollination. Many growers merely tap the wires or stakes to which 

 the plants are tied, but, during dark weather especially, this is not sufficient. 



As fungous diseases of the tomato crop are quite easily prevented by proper 

 ventilation and a dry atmosphere, little trouble should be experienced in that con- 

 nection, if proper attention is given to those points. If, however, an attack of mildew 

 gets a hold on the plants, it should be checked at once by spraying with any of the 

 ordinary fungicides. Bordeaux mixture is excellent for this purpose, but should be 

 used rather weaker than for other crops, a 3, 4, 40 mixture, when well made, is quite 

 safe. This is made by using 3 pounds of copper sulphate, 4 pounds of lime and 40 

 gallons of water. 



For the control of white fly, which will often be found on a crop, fumigating with 

 hydrocyanic acid gas is resorted to. For this purpose use haif an ounce potassium 

 cyanide (98 per cent pure), 2 ounces sulphuric acid, and 4 ounces of water to 4,000 

 cubic feet of space. The acid and water are placed in a saucer and the cyanide 

 dropped in, after which a speedy exit should be made by the operator, for the gas is a 

 deadly poison. The foregoing formula has been found sufficiently strong for the new 

 greenhouses at this Station, but where a more open type ot house is used, such as the 

 King Construction house, it might be found necessary to use as much as 1 ounce of 

 cyanide to 4,000 cubic feet. If used in too concentrated a form, serious burning will 

 result, so each grower should be on the safe side at first until he has ascertained the 

 correct proportions for his house. 



CAULIFLOWERS UNDER GLASS. 



Two trial lots of this vegetable have been grown in the greenhouses in order to 

 determine whether or not this crop could be considered profitable for the average 

 grower. In both cases, the results obtained showed that, although a large number of 

 good heads could be obtained, it cannot be considered a profitable crop for the average 

 man. The returns per square foot of space used are considerably lower than the returns 



from a crop of tomatoes. n j • i v jr i 



For any person desiring to grow cauliflowers it may be added, it has been lound 

 that Extra Early Snowball and Dwarf Erfurt are two of the best varieties for green- 

 house work. 



BEANS UNDER GLASS. 



Two crops of String beans have been grown in the greenhouses, but in both cases 

 the results were anything but satisfactory. It does not seem possible to obtain a paying 

 crop from this vegetable, although diiferent varieties were used and different cultural 

 methods tried. 



Ottawa. 



